There are a million ways to break your phone. And I’ve broken my fair share of them. Falling on it while skiing and cracking the screen was a significant bummer, but taking it into a cenote in Tulum, when I thought it was waterproof on the second day of a ten-day vacation, was way worse. So if you’re someone who plays outside a lot, there’s just no denying it; a phone needs a case. 

With so many options for phone cases on the market, choosing one you have to look at and live with every day can cause severe choice paralysis. Because in all reality, our phones are our most used accessory, they spend hours a day in our hands and our view. Nothing else we own sees a fraction of the use of our phone, so for a case, protection is paramount, but having both a case that you love to look at and connects with your passions can have an outsized impact on your daily life. 

It’s also important to consider the case functionality you are looking for, such as durability, feel, and sustainability. Don’t worry; at Rustek we kept all of these things in mind when creating our real wood phone cases with one goal in mind, to make the best wood phone cases ever.

How Does A Rustek Phone Case Hold Up?

Buying a tough phone case to prevent damage is ultimately more sustainable than replacing an entire phone. The rare earth minerals required to make a cell phone work are staggering, let alone the carbon emissions produced from manufacturing and shipping. 

Ultimately, protecting your phone from damage in the first place is the most sustainable solution and uses fewer resources than buying a biodegradable phone case that may not offer the same level of protection as a rubber case. With this in mind, how does the Rustek real wood phone case compare in regards to protection, durability, feel, and sustainability? 

Protection 

We use TPU rubber to create our cases. This material is great for shock absorption, which allows us to create a slim case, adding minimal bulk to your phone without sacrificing protection, so your phone will still fit well in your hand and slide easily into and out of your pockets. TPU rubber is also long-lasting and abrasion-resistant, which protects your phone from heat damage over time.

Durability

If you love the outdoors, it makes sense that if you get the opportunity to carry a little bit of it with you everywhere you go, you’re gonna take it. This is why having a phone case with real wood inlay is so appealing and can be even more heartbreaking if it doesn’t last as long as you want it to. Over time, the pieces of wood can warp, crack or fall out of the case. This happens when a wood inlay case is made up of small individual pieces, making them more fragile than a single piece of wood. 

 We solved this tragic problem by bonding together wood veneer graphics with a layer of resin, making the veneer layer both durable and flexible, keeping your wood inlay intact for the life of your phone and beyond(guaranteed!). Resin also fills the cracks between pieces of wood, so the finished surface is completely smooth and feels like one continuous piece of wood.

Feel

Many wood phone cases on the market are finished with Polyurethane. The point of buying a wood phone case is the look and feel of the natural wood. A polyurethane cover creates a thin plastic coating over the real wood, making it feel like plastic and not the original wood. Unfortunately, this plastic layer also begins to degrade and chip over time, which not only looks bad, it makes the wood susceptible to water damage and releases microplastics into the environment. 

We retain the buttery-soft, real-wood feel by finishing our cases with a penetrating wax oil, which seals the surface permanently and protects from liquids and spills from within the wood but still retains a natural wood feeling. The finish develops a patina over time, only getting better with use.

Sustainability

We are on a mission to save our forests because the natural world has given us so much inspiration and drives our passion to contribute to a future for others to experience the outdoors in the same way we do. 

This is why our cases are inlaid with 100% FSC certified, sustainably sourced wood; the wood is sourced from both responsible forestry practices and renewable resources(want to learn more about the wood we use? Check out our blog about our wood sourcing here). 

In addition, our packaging is made from 100% post-consumer recycled material. It is fully recyclable and compostable, so you know everything that goes into your case, from design to shipping, is done with the environment as our first priority. And to give back more than we took while crafting our cases, we plant two trees for every case sold.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

You can return or replace your product at no cost to you, just email us at info@rustek.co, and we'll make sure you're taken care of, no questions asked. So if you're interested, try one out, risk-free!! What do you have to lose? Plus, each one is handcrafted with care by our small team of woodworkers in Portland, Oregon, for your enjoyment, so please, love it or let us know. Your satisfaction is our #1 priority.